Message distribution warning indication

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for receiving and sending messages from a communication device is disclosed. Message recipient information is compared to stored information for potential recipients to determine whether a characteristic of the expression of the message on a device display should be changed such that the user perceives an unavoidable visual indication relating to the result of the comparison.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This Application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/859,614, “Color Differentiating a Portion of a Text MessageShown in a Listing on a Handheld Communication Device” filed on Sep. 21,2007 on behalf of Mihal Lazaridis and assigned to the assignee of thepresent Application.

FIELD

This disclosure is directed to apparatus and method for a communicationdevice that is capable of textual message transmission and reception,and more particularly is directed to such an apparatus and method forwhich a warning is presented to the user when a textual message is beingdistributed inappropriately.

BACKGROUND

Email has become a ubiquitous form of textual message exchange. It hasbecome so commonplace that email users have come to regard its presencewith the casualness of an intimate conversation. Despite the efforts ofthe business community in the education of its employees, peopleinadvertently leak proprietary information out of an organization byfailing to verify that all of the designated recipients of that email(i.e., all of the names in the TO, CC and BCC address fields), aremembers of that organization (i.e., employees of the same company).

As one example, some email exchanges, which start out as communicationsmarked as Attorney Client Privilege, may be continued among some of therecipients without including an attorney, thereby risking the claim ofprivilege for any material quoted within the email.

The problem of inappropriately distributing or redistributing emailmessages, at least as a result of human error, is unlikely to bethoroughly solved by education and policy mechanisms. Thus, a technologybackstop is needed to reduce damage caused as a result of human error increating or forwarding email messages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a handheld wireless communication device;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram representing a wireless handheld communicationdevice interacting in a communication network;

FIG. 3 illustrates the screen of a handheld device with an email listingshown on the display screen, where the email listing is differentiatedusing color based upon a common characteristic;

FIG. 4 illustrates another email listing shown on the display screen ofa handheld device, where the each email is color differentiated basedupon a common characteristic;

FIG. 5 illustrates yet another email listing shown on the display screenof a handheld wireless communication device, where the each email iscolor differentiated based upon a common characteristic;

FIG. 6 illustrates a display screen showing the addressing fields,subject field and message body of an email drafting screen;

FIG. 7 illustrates a display screen including a window for emailmessaging;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of one embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of another embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of another embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of another embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of another embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technology backstop for inappropriately distributing orredistributing a message, which is disclosed herein, is one that hasparticular relevance to handheld communication devices because of thesmall viewing screen and uncontrolled environment in which such a deviceis used. However, any system that handles messages, such as emailmessages, will substantially benefit from the claimed invention.Although the following disclosure is made with a handheld communicationdevice as an example, the specification is not intended to be solimited.

Communication devices, handheld or otherwise, conventionally havedisplay screens. A screen window, which may occupy the entire screen ora portion of the screen, is opened for the user when the user desires tocreate a message and activates a message creation program. In oneembodiment such a program is an email program. The user, by way of auser interface, typically addresses the message to one or morerecipients, provides a title to the message, and completes the body ofthe message with content. Or the user can forward a message created byanother with a revised set of addressees and/or a new title. Amicroprocessor executes a stored program that compares theidentification of the recipient addressees to identifications stored inmemory and the program causes a signal to be unavoidably presented tothe user via the display when there is a match between an identificationof an addressee and the identifications stored in memory. Alternatively,the unavoidable signal is displayed when a match is not found betweenidentifications. In another alternative embodiment, the comparison ismade between keywords or other text found in the title or in the bodycontent of the message. In another alternative embodiment, a comparisonis made of cryptographic keys to determine whether a recipient addresseehas the ability and right to decrypt a message. An absence of key matchresults in an unavoidable signal being presented to the user.

An unavoidable signal is presented on the communication device screen insuch a manner that a user cannot reasonably avoid seeing the signal onthe screen (or in a composition window on the screen). In oneembodiment, a screen background color is changed, if a designatedrecipient is not in a group qualified to receive the message. In anotherembodiment, the background of a composition window, which does notoccupy the entire communication device's screen, is changed. In anotherembodiment, a portion of a composition window, for example the outliningframe, is changed to a specified warning color-coded. The qualificationsinclude employee status, valid encryption keys, subject line or messagebody keyword appropriateness, and similar parameters. Various otherembodiments may combine features of these three exemplary embodiments.

An exemplary handheld communication device 100 is shown in FIG. 1. Thedevice includes a hand cradleable body configured to be held in one handby an operator of the device during use. Such a device is capable ofreceiving and transmitting textual messages, among other things, and anemail message reply is representatively shown on its screen 102. Entryof a message by the user is accomplished via the keyboard 104.Communication with other users is achieved through a wireless network,in this example, and a representative block diagram of the wirelessdevice 100 is illustrated in FIG. 2. The communication device 100 isalso configured to send and receive voice communications such as mobiletelephone calls. While a wireless embodiment is shown and described, itis expected that application of the claimed invention will be morewidely found in other communication devices such as networked laptop anddesktop computers and similar devices.

The device 100 in FIG. 2 includes a microprocessor 202 that controls theoperation of the device 100. A communication subsystem 204 performs allcommunication transmission and reception with a wireless network, whichis simply represented by element 206. The microprocessor 202 furtherconnects with an auxiliary input/output (I/O) subsystem 208, a serialport (preferably a Universal Serial Bus port) 210, a display 102′, akeyboard 104′, a speaker 212, a microphone 214, random access memory(RAM) 216, and flash memory 218 (or its equivalent). Other communicationsubsystems 220 and other device subsystems 222 are generally indicatedas being functionally connected with the microprocessor 202 as well. Anexample of a communication subsystem 220 is that of a short rangecommunication system such as BLUETOOTH® communication module or a Wi-Ficommunication module (a communication module in compliance with IEEE802.11b) and associated circuits and components. Additionally, themicroprocessor 202 is able to perform operating system functions andpreferably enables execution of software applications on thecommunication device 100.

The auxiliary I/O subsystem 208 can take the form of a variety ofdifferent navigation tools (multi-directional or single-directional)such as a trackball navigation tool, or a thumbwheel, a navigation pad,a joystick, or the like. These navigation tools are preferably locatedon the front surface of the device 100. Other auxiliary I/O subsystemscan include external display devices and externally connected keyboards(not shown).

The device 100 is equipped with components to enable operation ofvarious computer programs, or sets of operating instructions for themicroprocessor 202, as shown in FIG. 2. In an exemplary embodiment, theflash memory 218 is enabled to provide a storage location for a deviceoperating system 226, device programs 228, and data. The operatingsystem 226 is generally configured to manage other application programs228 that are also stored in memory 218 and executable on the processor202. The operating system 226 honors requests for services made byapplication programs 228 through predefined application programinterfaces. More specifically, the operating system 226 typicallydetermines the order in which multiple applications 228 are executed bythe processor 202 and the execution time allotted for each application,manages the sharing of memory 218 among multiple applications 228,handles input and output to and from other device subsystems 222, and soon. In addition, users can typically interact directly with theoperating system 226 through a user interface, usually including thekeyboard 104′ and display screen 102′. While in an exemplary embodimentthe operating system 226 is stored in flash memory 218, the operatingsystem 226 in other embodiments is stored in read-only memory (ROM) orsimilar storage element (not shown). As those skilled in the art willappreciate, the operating system 226, device application programs 228 orparts thereof may be loaded in RAM 216 or other volatile memory.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the flash memory 218 containsprograms/applications 228 for execution in the device 100 including anaddress book 230, a personal information manager (PIM) 232, and thedevice state 234. Furthermore, programs 228 and other information 234including data can be segregated upon storage in the flash memory 228 ofthe device 100.

When the device 100 is enabled for two-way communication with thewireless communication network 206, it can send and receive signals froma mobile communication service. Examples of communication systemsenabled for two-way communication include, but are not limited to, theGeneral Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network, the Universal MobileTelecommunication Service (UTMS) network, the Enhanced Data for GlobalEvolution (EDGE) network, and the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)network and those networks, generally described as packet-switched,narrowband, data-only technologies which are mainly used for short burstwireless data transfer. For the systems listed above, the communicationdevice 100 must be properly enabled to transmit and receive signals fromthe communication network 206. Other systems may not require suchidentifying information. GPRS, UMTS, and EDGE require the use of aSubscriber Identity Module (SIM) in order to allow communication withthe communication network 206. Likewise, most CDMA systems require theuse of a Removable Identity Module (RUIM) in order to communicate withthe CDMA network. The RUIM and SIM card can be used in multipledifferent communication devices 100. The communication device 100 may beable to operate some features without a SIM/RUIM card, but it will notbe able to communicate with the network 206. A SIM/RUIM interface 236located within the device 100 allows for removal or insertion of aSIM/RUIM card (not shown). The SIM/RUIM card features memory and holdskey configurations 238, and other information 240 such as identificationand subscriber related information. With a properly enabledcommunication device 100, two-way communication between thecommunication device 100 and communication network 206 and ultimatelywith other users is possible.

If the communication device 100 is enabled as described above or thecommunication network 206 does not require such enablement, the two-waycommunication enabled device 100 is able to both transmit and receiveinformation from the communication network 206. The transfer ofcommunication can be from the device 100 or to the device 100. In orderto communicate to the communication network 206, the device 100 in thepresently described exemplary embodiment is equipped with an integral orinternal transmitting antenna 242 for transmitting signals to thecommunication network 206. Likewise the communication device 100 in thepresently described exemplary embodiment is equipped with anotherinternal antenna, receiving antenna 244 for receiving communication fromthe communication network 206. These antennas (242, 244) in anotherexemplary embodiment are combined into a single antenna and,alternatively, be externally mounted (not shown).

When equipped for two-way communication, the communication device 100features a communication subsystem 204. As is well known in the art,this communication subsystem 204 is modified so that it can support theoperational needs of the device 100. The subsystem 204 includes atransmitter 246 and receiver 248 including the associated antennas asdescribed above, local oscillators (LOs) 250, and a processing module252 which in the presently described exemplary embodiment is a digitalsignal processor (DSP).

It is contemplated that communication by the device 100 with thewireless network 206 can be any type of communication that both thewireless network 206 and device 100 are enabled to transmit, receive andprocess. In general, these can be classified as voice and data. Voicecommunication is communication in which signals for audible sounds aretransmitted by the device 100 through the communication network 206.Data is all other types of communication that the device 100 is capableof performing within the constraints of the wireless network 206.

Example device applications that can depend on such data include email,contacts and calendars. For each such application synchronization withhome-based versions on the applications can be critical for either orboth of their long term and short term utility. As an example, emailsare often time sensitive, so substantially real time synchronization ishighly desirable. Contacts, on the other hand, can be usually updatedless frequently without inconvenience. Therefore, the utility of thedevice 100 is significantly enhanced (if not enabled) when connectablewithin a communication system, and particularly when connectable on awireless basis in a network 206 in which voice, text messaging, andother data transfer are accommodated.

When the device is capable of sending and receiving text messages suchas email messages, an email software program is implemented on thehandheld device. In some examples, the email software is a stand aloneapplication. In other examples, the email software is integrated alongwith the operating system software. The email software program has anemail application that is capable of displaying the email messages tothe user. It is common that a listing of email messages be presented,along with a status of each message. It is a feature that the emailsoftware is capable of providing a color differentiation of the listedemails. This differentiation can also be realized through a grayscaledifferentiation as well. These color differentiations allow for commoncharacteristics to be differentiated.

One common characteristic is the name of the sender or receiver of theemail message. In another example, a common characteristic is aparticular code associated with the sender or receiver of the emailmessage. For example, emails from two different senders having the samehost name would have the same color code. This can be helpful indetermining emails from a particular organization or company that aresent via email. In one example, the email software is set up such thatall emails that are from the sender's company or organization areidentified by a particular color. Different groups or criteria can beused to generate different color differentiation and the device could bepreset such that when a particular user's email address was entered, allemails received from a sender or sent to a recipient within the sameorganization would be color coded and all prohibited or otherwiserestricted email messages would be differently colored.

The color coding of the emails is achieved through a variety ofdifferent ways. Some particular examples are provided herein, but theseexamples do not limit the scope of this disclosure and one skilled inthe art would appreciate other color-coding possibilities. For exampleas shown in FIG. 3, when a user has the email display applicationprogrammed such that names 302 of the senders or recipients aredisplayed, the names 302 of the sender or recipient are coloredaccording to the different color scheme. Alternatively as shown in FIG.4, all information (such as indicator icon 410, time 412, email address407, and subject 414) relating to a particular email in the listing arecolored in the same fashion as the name 302 in FIG. 3. In anotherexample, only the portion which was related to particular code iscolored according to the criteria as set forth above. In anotherembodiment, the name or other portion of the email listing that is colorcoded is color coded by having a the text portion of the email listingcolored such as shown in FIG. 5.

In another exemplary embodiment as shown in FIG. 4, the identificationcode or email address 407 of the sender or recipient is shown. Thelisting shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to the same listing as shown in FIG.3, but the listing of FIG. 4 has the email address shown instead of thename of the sender or recipient. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the name 406and the subject 414 are colored the same. In this color scheme, the textof the name 406 and subject 414 are colored according to the desiredcolor scheme as implemented in the email display application.

In order to determine which email or email listing should be colorcoded, the email software is programmed in one embodiment to examine theinformation contained within the email or the address associated withthe sender or addressee. For example, the email software applies colordifferentiation based upon the host name of the email sender orrecipient. In at least one example, the host name refers to the portionof the email address that follows the symbol @ and precedes the domainextension such as .com and .org. As shown in FIG. 4, the portion thatprecedes the @ symbol of the email address 407 specifies the intendedparty. The portion after the @ symbol is either the company domain nameor other domain name that the particular user is associated with. Thisdomain name can be a public domain that allows users to sign up for freeaccounts or pay for account services through the company. For example,considering the email received at 9:23 am, the user name is “john.brown”and the company domain is “hrabc.com.”

While most of the above apply to both incoming and outgoing messages,outgoing messages can further benefit through the use of color coding ofemail addresses or email recipient names. For instance, a user may wishto reply to a message, but may not fully appreciate all of the intendedrecipients' names. Thus, the addressees' names or email addresses can becolor coded as described above. This allows the sender of the emailmessage to determine whether the recipients are those to whom themessage to should be sent. For example, a user may receive an emailmessage where two parties are involved in negotiation between each otherand would like to safely remove all outside parties from the email.Through the use of color differentiation, the user could easily removethose outside the intended list and know those other party will notreceive the message. Having the recipients and/or senders colordifferentiated allows the user of the handheld device to easilydetermine to the addressee or sender of the email message. Additionally,when the user is sending a confidential matter, which could havedisastrous effect if sent to the wrong addressee, an additional visualcue is provided to the sender of the email.

FIG. 6 presents a display showing an exemplary embodiment of an emailprogram where the user has initiated a response to a received emailmessage. The email message response includes a “To:” field 602 whichindicates the recipients of the email message, a “CC:” field 604 forcarbon copying recipients, a “Subject:” field 606 which indicates thesubject of the email, and the body 608 of the email. The body 608 of theemail is where the user inputs text for transmission. If the email is areply to a previous email, the body 608 can include at least a portionof the previous email message that was sent. A cursor 610 is oftenimplemented as part of the email display program to indicate where thetext will be input.

The addressee indicated in the “To:” field 602 can be colored so as toallow the user to differentiate among recipient addresses when sending amessage. In the instance as shown in FIG. 6, the email is addressed to“Dawn Shine.” This email address is color differentiated from otheraddressees and can be distinguished by the user when sending a messageto a particular recipient. It is possible for the user to determinewhether the addressee matches one of the predefined categories asdescribed above. In this case, Dawn Shine would be an approved contactand have the color-coding associated with an approved contact. Thus, inthe scenario where a user may have a contact that is an approved contactwith the same name as an unapproved contact, the user can determinewhich one of these two contacts the email is addressed to or receivedfrom. While the above examples provided in FIG. 6 is a reply to emails,other embodiments of the presently described disclosure can includeoriginal email messages. In the embodiment where an original email issent, the same basic information is involved.

As mentioned above, a common characteristic, upon which colordifferentiation is based, is a host name included in an identificationcode of the respective email's sender. The host name can include thedomain name from which the message is sent as well as the domain listedas the reply address. As described above, the host name can be theportion that appears after the @ symbol in the identification code, suchas the email address. Other codes can likewise be used, such as sender'sname. The received emails that have like host names can be same-colorcoded, such as the organization group 306 as shown in FIG. 3. While inanother example, received emails having different host names are coloreddifferently.

In yet another embodiment, the email software program identifies anemail recipient uniquely color codes emails with the same host name incomparison to other display-listed received emails. While in anotherexemplary embodiment the email software program classifies email basedupon host names—if the email is an approved email source then it isuniquely color coded in comparison to the received emails listed on thedisplay. In still another exemplary embodiment, the email softwareprogram classifies received emails based upon an unapproved email sourceand the emails are uniquely color coded in comparison to otherdisplay-listed received emails. While the above embodiments have beendescribed independent from each other, in at least one embodiment thereceived email is classified by the email software program using atleast one of an approved email classification, an unapprovedclassification, and a same host name. In a particular embodiment, all ofthese classifications are implemented by the email software program.

Examples of these different color codes can be seen in FIGS. 3-5. InFIGS. 3 and 4, a listing of emails is shown on the display screen 102.The two listings shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 differ in how the addressee's orsender's identification is shown. As shown in FIG. 3, the identificationof the addressee or sender involves displaying the name associated withthat party. While in FIG. 4, the identification of the addressee orsender is indicated through an email address associated with that party.The emails in both FIGS. 3 and 4 are color-coded based upon groups suchthat there is an organizational group 306 (which in one embodiment hasthe same host name associated therewith), an approved group 308, and anunapproved group 310. The emails are respectively colored, respectively,based upon the following criteria: same organization as the operator, anapproved list contacts, and an unapproved list. In yet another exampleas shown in FIG. 5, all the email messages are colored differently sinceeach email 504, 506, 508 has a different host name associated therewith.

When a handheld device has an email software program as described above,the criteria for establishing the color-differentiation is required tobe input into the email software program. In at least one embodiment,the criteria for color-differentiation is user-programmable, allowingthe user to select which settings to be implemented along with itsrelevant color options. For example, the user could select whether toimplement a color differentiation that allowed for certain messages fromusers within a particular host group to be color differentiated fromother messages. The user could further select any one of the abovedescribed criteria for differentiating the addressee or sender of agiven email message. In yet another embodiment, the criteria forcolor-differentiation is preset and non-changeable. Thus, the user wouldbe required to use the preset criteria. While the user may not be ableto program the desired criteria, at least one embodiment contemplatesthe use of administrator privileges that allow the administrator of thecompany to control the criteria for the handheld wireless communicationdevices.

When the user desires to send an email message from the communicationdevice, an outbound email display application is implemented. Thisoutbound email display application presents fields for the user to inputdata into such as a “To:” field, a “CC:” field, a “Subject:” field, andbody field. In at least one embodiment, other addressing fields areimplemented to further provide the user with different addressingoptions that are typically found within email programs. In oneembodiment, the outbound email is color-coded prior to sending. Thecolor-coding is based on a host name included in an identification codeof the outbound email's recipient. When selecting the addressees of theemail message, a portion of the email is color differentiated based uponone of the host name, an approved email addressee, and an unapprovedemail addressee. The host name is the part of the identification code asdescribed above. Further examples of this have been provided above inrelation to FIG. 6.

The outbound email display application can also display a list ofmessages that have been sent from the device and at least a portion ofthe displayed email information is color-coded based upon acharacteristic common to each sent email. This color-coding is basedupon similar criteria to that of received email messages. In at leastone embodiment, the characteristic common to each displayed email is ahost name which is included in an identification code of the respectivesent email's recipient. In other embodiments, the display-listed sentemails having like host names are same-color coded. In yet anotherembodiment, the display-listed emails having different host names aredifferent-color coded. Furthermore, the software program can presentemails that are uniquely colored if the email recipient is an approvedrecipient. While in another embodiment, a unique color coding is appliedto portion of an email message when the email recipient is uniquelycolor coded.

When the address list is long and a specific name, color coded asdescribed above, appears in a part of the list that is not viewable onthe screen or in the window presented on the screen when the emailsender is creating an email message, the alert provided by a color codedname is likely to be missed. In many instances, it is desirable to havethe electronic device cause the alert to be unavoidable for the sender.To this end, a visual indication is provided on the entirety of themessage generating portion of the screen when a message compositionwindow is opened for drafting, and a designated recipient meets certaincriteria. With this system, the user cannot avoid observing theindication while viewing the draft of a potential outgoing message.

In general, a screen parameter or experience is changed if certainconditions worthy of a warning to the message drafter are met. A visualindication on the screen (or in the message composition window, wherethe window occupies only part of the screen) includes one or acombination of indications to unavoidably get the drafter's attention.An illustration of an exemplary message composition window 702 within alarger screen area 704 is shown in FIG. 7. Here, the composition windowbackground hue is changed for alerting purposes among several differentcolors: white, green, orange, red, gray, or other colors that areselected for visual clarity but will still allow typing over the coloredbackground. As shown, the message composition window in FIG. 7 has beenchanged to the color red as an alert to the message drafter. It isdesirable that color sets are selected to minimize the risk ofmisidentification by color blind users. Other types of changes to theentire message window will serve as an alert to the message drafter, forexample but without limitation, the frame of a message compositionwindow (if the window is so arranged) will be changed. Alternatively, orin combination, the background of either the entire screen or themessage composition window will be grayscale patterned, for example witha watermark or lines. Such a watermark may read “Outside Recipient” oranother phrase or word that alerts the drafter to a problem with themessage or one of the addressees. Lines may be at any angle, and may beonly parallel, or may include intersecting lines. Combinations of theabove may be used, for example background colors, watermarks, andframes, to indicate among multiple severities of warnings, or multiplesimultaneous warnings. However, the visual indications employed shouldpermit typing of a message, for at least low level warnings, so suchwarnings should not be so obtrusive as to obscure the message text.Decorative message backgrounds, for example wallpaper in html emailmessages, may need to be over-ridden or removed.

Conditions that lead to the unavoidable alert presented on the screen ofthe communication device are typically those that would inadvertentlyleak proprietary information out of an organization by failing to verifythat all of the designated recipients of that email (i.e., all of thenames in the TO, CC and BCC address fields), are members of thatorganization (i.e., employees of the same company). Or, those messagesthat start out as communications marked “Company Confidential” or“Attorney Client Privileged” but are distributed to individuals that arenot under an obligation of confidentiality or not sent to an attorneyrisk the loss of a claim of confidentiality or privilege for anymaterial included within the message. The message that leaks informationmay be one that originates with the message drafter. Even more likely,an email message that is forwarded to a new set of addressees that donot meet the requirements of message information handling that theoriginal message required inadvertently leaks information that was notintended for the new addressees. A handheld wireless communicationdevice with its excellent mobility and immediacy offers an unwantedopportunity to inadvertently send messages to inappropriate recipientsas a result of these advantages. An indication that is visiblethroughout the message window reduces the possibility of messagedistribution error.

Consider, now, the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8. A messagedrafter is about to create (or forward) a message to be sent to a listof addressees. A series of computer instructions—recalled from memoryand processed by a microprocessor, as described above—are employed todetermine whether an alert is to be given to the drafter. In thisembodiment, the concern is that addressees be members of the drafter'sorganization. The email domain of an addressee is input at 802 and theemail domain of the drafter is recalled at 804. The two domains arecompared for a match at 806 and if the domains do not match, a visualindication is triggered at 808 so that the message window is changed toprovide an unavoidable alert to the drafter. If the domains match orfollowing the trigger of the visual indication, a determination ofwhether the last addressee has been evaluated is made at 810 and eitherthe email domain of the next addressee is input or the program exitsdepending upon the determination of step 810. Thus, addressees that arenot members of the set “belong to the same organization as the drafter”(defined by the email domain) are potentially excluded since an alert isprovided.

In an alternative embodiment, inclusion/exclusion is made on the basisof predetermined domains. Thus, a determination is based upon domainsfound in an email distribution list. For example if an addressee's emailaddress is in one or more of “legal_department” and “approved_vendors”email domain lists an alert indication is not triggered. The addressee'semail domain is input at 902 in FIG. 9. The approved list is input at904 and scanned for a match in the comparison at 906. A no matchcondition triggers the visual indication at 908 and a match (as well asthe next step following the visual indication trigger) leads to adetermination of whether the last addressee has been evaluated is madeat 910. Either the email domain of the next addressee is input or theprogram exits depending upon the determination of step 910.

The logical opposite of the embodiment of FIG. 9 is shown in theflowchart of FIG. 10, where a list of unacceptable, reject domains (ormore granularly, unacceptable individual's domains) is maintained in theaddress book. The email domain of an addressee is input at 1002 and thereject domain list is input at 1004. The two domains are compared for amatch at 1006 and when the domains match, a visual indication istriggered at 1008 so that the message window is changed to provide anunavoidable alert to the drafter that the addressee has been deemedunacceptable to receive the email message. If the domains do not matchor following the trigger of the visual indication, a determination ofwhether the last addressee has been evaluated is made at 1010 and eitherthe email domain of the next addressee is input or the program exitsdepending upon the determination of step 1010. Thus, addressees that aremembers of the set “belong to an unacceptable domain” are excluded andan alert is provided.

The determination for triggering an alert in an alternative embodimentis based on whether the drafter possesses or has access to a validencryption key that is associated with a designated recipient. Forexample, the drafter may possess a digital certificate for some or allpotential recipients, and the email program encrypts outgoing messagesif keys are available for all designated recipients. As shown in theflowchart of FIG. 11, the encryption key for addressee “N” is extractedfrom the certificate store and input at 1102. The message drafter's copyof encryption keys is input at 1104 and compared for a match withaddressee “N's” key at 1106. An absence of a match leads to the triggerof a visual indication at 1108. A match (and the next step following thetrigger of a visual indication) leads to an increment to the nextaddressee and a determination of whether the last addressee has beenexamined, at 1110. Either the email domain of the next addressee isinput or the program exits depending upon the determination of step1010.

Three methods of encryption technique are useful in three alternateembodiments. The first method encrypts the text of the email messageand, optionally, the attachments with a session key that is generated atthe commencement of the encryption process. For each recipient of anemail, a copy of the session key is encrypted with the recipient'spublic key. Each encrypted session key is placed in (or appended orprepended to) a message identified with the recipient. For decryption,the specific encrypted session key is identified using identificationfound in the file. For example, the file is identified as: addressee_id1(plain text); <key1>(ciphertext); addressee_id2 (plain text);<key2>(ciphertext); etc. The identified session key is decrypted withthe recipient's private key and the message body (and attachments, ifencrypted) is subsequently decrypted using the decrypted session key.

A second encryption technique embodiment includes the generation andencryption of the message body with a session key. A “successfuldecrypt” flag is appended to the session key, which flag is onlyrecognizable if it is properly decrypted. In this embodiment, thesession key is inserted in the message body and further used as theflag. For each addressee, a copy of the session key and its appendedflag is encrypted with the addressee's public key. Each encryptedsession key (and flag) is placed in the message, preferably in randomorder, without identification and the message is sent. Each addresseedecrypts the first session key encountered and its flag with theaddressee's private key. The flag is checked for validity and if it isvalid, the message body is decrypted using the session key. If the flagis not valid, the decryption process is repeated using a private keyuntil all keys are exhausted or a successful decryption is made.

A third encryption technique embodiment generates a session key forencryption. A “successful decrypt” flag is prepended to the message bodyand the message body and flag are encrypted with the session key. Foreach addressee, the session key copy is encrypted with the addressee'spublic key. Each encrypted message key is included in the message butwithout indication of which message key belongs to which addressee andpreferably in a randomized order. The encrypted message is then sent.Each message recipient decrypts the first session key with therecipient's private key. The first block of the message body is thendecrypted with the current session key and the flag is checked forvalidity. If the flag is determined to be valid, the remainder of themessage is decrypted with the current session key. If the flag is notvalid, a decryption of the next session key is attempted and decryptionof the message body and flag is attempted with that next session key.The process continues until a valid flag is found or the number ofsession keys is exhausted.

Alert indications provide additional information to the drafter when theaddressee characteristic is evaluated for reasons of exclusions from adesired set and reasons of inclusions in an undesired set. For example,the email domain of an addressee is input at 1202 in the flowchart ofFIG. 12. The drafter's email domain is recalled at 1204 and the twodomains are compared for a match at 1206. If a match is determined, areject domain list is input from memory at 1208. If a match is notfound, one type of visual indication is triggered at 1210 before thereject domain list is input. The addressee's email domain is compared tothe reject domain list at 1212 and a trigger of a second type of visualindication is triggered at 1214. A match at 1212 (or following thesecond visual indication trigger) results in a determination, at 1216,of whether both visual indicators are set. If both are set, a trigger ofa third type of visual indication is set at 1218 and the determinationof whether the last email addressee has been evaluated is made at 1220,which is also entered from a determination that both the first andsecond triggers were set. When the last email domain has been evaluated,the program returns to the next operation of the communications device.

The evaluations described in the embodiments above have considered theemail address of a selected addressee or plurality of addressees. Otherparameters are evaluated in alternate embodiments. For example, keywords in the Subject line or the body of the message trigger changewhich indications and criteria are used. Certain words or phrases, suchas “Confidential” or “Attorney Client Privileged” trigger the use ofcertain criteria, such as whether an attorney is included in the TOline, or the list of available indications, such as certain reservedcolors, or both are subject to be changed. These words may bestandardized phrases that indicate sensitivity of information, or may bea customized list, such as code names of undisclosed projects. Further,there may be a differentiation based on the field in which a designatedrecipient field appears. For example, if an email address identified asone for an attorney appears in a CC field, rather than in the TO field,an indication will be triggered.

The subject line may be locked, and rendered unchangeable, if the emailis a reply that quotes the content of the parent email. In this way, theuser is prevented from disabling an indication, merely by changing thewording of the subject. This is important if an organization's policyprevents a message from being sent if the title indicates privilegedmaterial and there is an unauthorized address among the designatedrecipients. The message can then be sent by deleting the quote, therebyremoving the privileged material, and then changing the distributionlist.

While the above examples have been described in relation to email, oneskilled in the art would appreciate the necessary modifications to allowlists and programs for SMS, MMS, PIN messages, instant messages, andsimilar messages to be displayed according to the above descriptionprovided in relation to email messages. Thus instead of an emailprogram, the program could be one directed towards one of the abovetypes of messages or the program could be capable of displaying all ofthe above types of messages. Likewise, the message that is displayedcould be one of the above messages.

Exemplary embodiments have been described hereinabove regarding bothhandheld wireless communication devices 100, as well as thecommunication networks 206 within which they operate. Again, it shouldbe appreciated that the foregoing disclosure teaches a resolution of theproblem of inappropriately distributing or redistributing email messagesby changing a characteristic of the expression of the message on adevice display such that the user perceives an unavoidable visualindication.

1. A communication device configured to receive and send messages,comprising: a user interface including an input device for acceptingidentification of a recipient for a message including content, and adisplay for expressing said message to a user; a microprocessor andassociated memory, coupled to said user interface; wherein said memorymaintains a list of identifications of potential recipients and saidmicroprocessor executes a stored program to compare said identificationsin said list of potential recipients to said identification of saidrecipient and to unavoidably signal to the user via said display thatsaid comparison has determined that said recipient identification hasbeen found in said list.
 2. The communication device of claim 1 whereinsaid display is adapted to unavoidably signal to the user by changingthe background color of said message expressed in said display.
 3. Thecommunication device of claim 1 wherein said display is adapted tounavoidably signal to the user by changing the color of the window frameof said message expressed in said display.
 4. The communication deviceof claim 1 wherein said accepted identification of a recipient and saidmaintained a list of identifications of potential recipients furthercomprises an email address or email address domain of a recipient and alist of email addresses or email address domains of potentialrecipients, respectively.
 5. The communication device of claim 1 whereinsaid accepted identification of a recipient and said maintained a listof identifications of potential recipients further comprises a sessionkey representation of a recipient and a list of session keyrepresentations of potential recipients, respectively.
 6. Thecommunication device of claim 1 wherein said memory further comprises amaintained second list of second identifications of potential recipientsto be compared to a second identification of said recipient and saiddisplay adapted to unavoidably signal to the user via said display thatsaid comparison has determined that at least one of said recipientidentification and said recipient second identification has been foundin said list.
 7. The communication device of claim 1 further comprisinga receiver for receiving said message when said message is addressed tosaid user.
 8. The communication device of claim 1 further comprising atransmitter for sending said message to said recipient
 9. A method ofreceiving and sending messages from a communication device, comprisingthe steps of: accepting identification of a recipient for a messageincluding content from an input device; expressing said message to auser via a display; maintaining a list of identifications of potentialrecipients in a memory associated with a microprocessor; comparing saididentifications in said list of potential recipients to saididentification of said recipient; and changing a characteristic of theexpression of said message on said display to unavoidably signal to theuser via said display that said comparison has determined that saidrecipient identification has been found in said list.
 10. The method ofclaim 9 wherein said changing a characteristic further comprises achanging of the background color of said message expressed in saiddisplay.
 11. The method of claim 9 wherein said changing acharacteristic further comprises a changing of the background grayscalepattern of said message expressed in said display.
 12. The method ofclaim 9 wherein said changing a characteristic further comprises achanging of the color of the window frame of said message expressed insaid display.
 13. The method of claim 9 wherein said acceptingidentification of a recipient and said maintaining a list ofidentifications of potential recipients further comprises acceptingemail address or email address domain of a recipient and maintaining alist of email addresses or email address domains of potentialrecipients.
 14. The method of claim 9 wherein said acceptingidentification of a recipient and said maintaining a list ofidentifications of potential recipients further comprises decrypting asession key representation of a recipient and maintaining a list ofsession key representations of potential recipients.
 15. The method ofclaim 9 further comprising: maintaining a second list of secondidentifications of potential recipients in a memory associated with amicroprocessor; comparing said second identifications in said list ofpotential recipients to a second identification of said recipient; andchanging a second characteristic of the expression of said message onsaid display to unavoidably signal to the user via said display thatsaid comparison has determined that at least one of said recipientidentification and said recipient second identification has been foundin said list.
 16. A computer readable medium having stored therein a setof instructions that when executed cause a computer to implement aprocess of receiving and sending messages, said instructions comprisingthe steps of: accepting identification of a recipient for a messageincluding content from an input device; displaying said message andidentification to a user; maintaining a list of identifications ofpotential recipients; comparing said identifications in said list ofpotential recipients to said identification of said recipient; andunavoidably signaling to the user via said display that said comparisonhas determined that said recipient identification has been found in saidlist.
 17. The computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein saidunavoidably signaling to the user further comprises a changing of thebackground color of said message expressed in said display.
 18. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 16 wherein said unavoidably signalingto the user further comprises a changing of the background grayscalepattern of said message expressed in said display.
 19. The computerreadable medium of claim 16 wherein said unavoidably signaling to theuser further comprises a changing of the color of the window frame ofsaid message expressed in said display.
 20. The computer readable mediumof claim 16 wherein said accepting identification of a recipient andsaid maintaining a list of identifications of potential recipientsfurther comprises accepting email address or email address domain of arecipient and maintaining a list of email addresses or email addressdomains of potential recipients.
 21. The computer readable medium ofclaim 16 wherein said accepting identification of a recipient and saidmaintaining a list of identifications of potential recipients furthercomprises decrypting a session key representation of a recipient andmaintaining a list of session key representations of potentialrecipients.
 22. The computer readable medium of claim 16 furthercomprising the steps of: maintaining a second list of secondidentifications of potential recipients; comparing said secondidentifications in said list of potential recipients to a secondidentification of said recipient; and unavoidably signaling to the uservia said display that said comparison has determined that at least oneof said recipient identification and said recipient secondidentification has been found in said list.
 23. A method of receivingand sending messages from a communication device, comprising the stepsof: accepting identification of a recipient for a message includingcontent from an input device; expressing said message to a user via adisplay; maintaining a list of identifications of potential recipientsin a memory associated with a microprocessor; comparing saididentifications in said list of potential recipients to saididentification of said recipient; and preventing the changing of acharacteristic of the expression of said message on said display tounavoidably signal to the user via said display that said comparison hasdetermined that said recipient identification has been found in saidlist.
 24. The method of claim 23 wherein said accepting identificationof a recipient and said maintaining a list of identifications ofpotential recipients further comprises accepting email address or emailaddress domain of a recipient and maintaining a list of email addressesor email address domains of potential recipients.
 25. The method ofclaim 23 wherein said accepting identification of a recipient and saidmaintaining a list of identifications of potential recipients furthercomprises decrypting a session key representation of a recipient andmaintaining a list of session key representations of potentialrecipients.
 26. A computer readable medium having stored therein a setof instructions that when executed cause a computer to implement aprocess of receiving and sending messages, said instructions comprisingthe steps of: accepting identification of a recipient for a messageincluding content from an input device; displaying said message andidentification to a user; maintaining a list of identifications ofpotential recipients; comparing said identifications in said list ofpotential recipients to said identification of said recipient; andpreventing an unavoidable signaling to the user via said display whensaid comparison has determined that said recipient identification hasbeen found in said list.
 27. The computer readable medium of claim 26wherein said accepting identification of a recipient and saidmaintaining a list of identifications of potential recipients furthercomprises accepting email address or email address domain of a recipientand maintaining a list of email addresses or email address domains ofpotential recipients.
 28. The computer readable medium of claim 26wherein said accepting identification of a recipient and saidmaintaining a list of identifications of potential recipients furthercomprises decrypting a session key representation of a recipient andmaintaining a list of session key representations of potentialrecipients.